USC Marshall vs WashU Olin vs Georgia Tech

International student here who received offers at USC Marshall School of Business, WashU in St. Louis Olin School of Business, and Georgia Tech for undergrad. I aspire to get into VC, IB, consulting, or start-ups after my studies. I did not apply for financial aid, so I'll almost be paying full price at any school.

At WashU, I will be paying full sticker price, but at USC, I received the Director's scholarship of 4000 USD, which does minimal help to reduce the costs.

When I looked up USNEWS rankings, WashU is ranked #15 while USC is ranked #25 overall.

WashU's tuition is $ 61,750 USD while USC's would be $ 62,640 USD even after factoring in the scholarship, so they literally cost the same. However, tuition is substantially lower for Georgia Tech at $ 31,370 USD, which is approximately half the price when compared to USC and WashU. Also, I will be majoring in Industrial Engineering (ranked #1 in the US) or CS (#4 in the US) if I'm going to Georgia Tech.

For me, the costs of living in LA vs St. Louis or ATL wouldn't matter too much, and my parents will be able to support me at either of these schools, but I'm wondering whether USC or WashU is really worth double the price when compared to GT. As of now, I'm leaning more towards USC, but I just couldn't find a strong reason to justify spending double the money when I have another great option which costs only half the price.

Considering that I want to get into VC, IB, consulting, or start-ups, which option of the three would you choose? Also, If I go to GT, should I major in CS or IE ? 

Comments (7)

Most Helpful
2mo 
frynance, what's your opinion? Comment below:

not sure from personal experience, but friends and family have told me USC is great for getting into IB/finance in LA. also will help being in a city as you may be able to get internships during the school year. also probably more of a fun time than st. louis or GT.also you will probably have a higher chance of making wealthy friends with good connections at usc, and that always helps

  • 2
2mo 
goldenbanana, what's your opinion? Comment below:

Thanks for the insight and yea connections r essential but I'm still contemplating whether the 30k premium is worth it

  • Intern in PE - LBOs
2mo 

USC Marshall is the number 1 business school for undergraduate according to the following ranking (in case you really care about ranking): https://poetsandquantsforundergrads.com/rankings/poetsquants-best-under…

USC is also a target school for most banks on the west coast. If you go to GT, you'll definitely be working much harder in CS, and probably also in IE. But I have seen GT kids get into pretty good banks on both the coasts. Idk much about WashU to comment.

  • 3
  • 1
2mo 
goldenbanana, what's your opinion? Comment below:

Thanks. Great point that I hv to work way much harder at GT🤣

  • Intern in IB-M&A
1mo 

USC is absolutely not the number 1 undergrad b school lol. 

  • Intern in PE - LBOs
1mo 

Wow who would have guessed that? I was trying to point to the fact that rankings aren't really that helpful

2mo 
windoflife, what's your opinion? Comment below:

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